UK’s first sustainable department store opens in Shoreditch

Ethical online marketplace Blue Patch is transforming a Shoreditch high street for just one week, with the launch of the UK’s very first Sustainable Department Store.

The store, within the Espacio Gallery near Brick Lane, will feature 40 brands and run from 11th to the 16th of December.

Visitors will be able to buy directly from top British brands, join creative workshops, be pampered and solve burning environmental issues all under one roof.

One of the social enterprises taking part, Joanna Hamer of Juta Shoes, explains:

We’re excited to be taking part in the Blue Patch Sustainable Department Store. As a small online business, it’s a great opportunity to meet our customers, show our products and tell our story directly to our community.

Our shoes are handmade just around the corner from the store in Bethnal Green, supporting marginalised women into work, so it’s the perfect chance to connect our studio to the high street.

In addition to providing a welcome boost to the local economy, Blue Patch hopes to encourage shoppers to take steps towards a more climate friendly lifestyle.

The organisation will be running free workshops throughout the week including how to design your own wallpaper, make wildflower seedballs and upcycle wallets.

Blue Patch founder and CEO Jane Langley said:

Encountering enthusiastic experts with ‘can do’ fixes for the climate crisis in a store sparkling with beautiful products plus the chance to meet the makers, sets the scene for a new kind of high street, one that’s social, entrepreneurial and sustainable too. It’s the power of positive shopping Blue Patch style.

Ethical shopping available at Blue Patch include: Tweed clothing by London based Cock & Bull, McNair ‘plasma dry’ shirts from Yorkshire, organic beauty products from the New Forest, shoes by social enterprise Juta, Diggle Chocolates from a Cordon Bleu-trained chocolatier, cook books from the Clink and Brighton-based designers Baines & Fricker are launching a new drinks cabinet.